I am Hindu and I am not a Sinner

Sanatan Dharma or Hinduism is not a prescriptive religion. It doesn’t give you a list of Do’s and Don’ts. It gives a lot of freedom of thought to the extent that a person who said there is no God is also referred to as Saint. According to the basic principles of Hinduism, the greatest sin is to call a person a sinner. We believe the divine force is existing in all living and non-living things…so, to call a person a sinner is to deny their divinity.

In 2006 April, I was in San Jose, CA to attend a conference. On the sidelines of a meeting, a fellow journalist, an African-American, told me that we are all sinners.

How can it be?

“I don’t think I am a sinner…” I said.

“Are you saying you are perfect?” he raised his eye brows.

“Yes, of course, I am perfect with all my imperfections…”

“That’s ridiculous. Nobody is perfect… To not be a sinner means you’ve never broken any Law of God?”

“Law of God? What’s that? I didn’t know that God was a law maker”

“Yes – God makes laws. Have you ever lied, cheated, or stolen?”

“I don’t remember cheating or stealing. But I may have lied. Not telling truth is almost equal to lying. Hmm…may be… I am an ordinary human being – in my childhood I might have stolen sweets too”

“Then you are a sinner”

“Oh, really? How can you be so sure that I am a sinner?”

“God’s scriptures says so”

So – that’s the reason -He follows some beliefs. “What does it says?”

“As a sinner, you are separated from God. But the God loves you enough to want you to be with him. Hence, the only way to have your sins forgivenis to put your trust in God and follow what god said… Otherwise, you will have to face him on your own on the Day of Judgment…So, why don’t you accept yourself as a sinner?”

“I don’t go by such beliefs. I follow Sanatan Dharma, in which you don’t have to believe in any beliefs”

“Are you criticizing our trust in God as just a set of beliefs?”

“Not at all…Who I am to do that? I am not. I am just saying that my viewpoints are different…this is a democratic country, right? You have right to express your opinion”

“So your religion doesn’t say you are a sinner?” he asked.

“Sanatan Dharma or Hinduism is not a prescriptive religion. It doesn’t give you a list of Do’s and Don’ts. It gives a lot of freedom of thoughtso much so that a person who said there is no God is also referred to as Saint.”

“That’s bull 8@#&”

“That’s your opinion. Because, you are conditioned by your beliefs. I don’t believe in beliefs. I am a seeker of truth. With conditioned-mind like that of yours, one cannot seek truth”.

His face turned red. He got really very angry.

“Don’t give me the angry look. Please don’t react before I finish. I don’t feel insecure or hurt if you talk any thing bad about my beliefs, then why should you get hurt?” I asked him.

This is very strange. Some belief-systems that have the world’s largest numbers of followers are more insecure and feel hurt, when somebody questions their beliefs or superstitions.

I asked him: “Why do you people feel insecure and angry or get hurt when somebody says against your faith? Please give freedom to others to express their views…”

“I disagree with you. You are wrong, totally wrong” he said.

“You are free to disagree. This is America, a democratic country… You are not letting me complete…”

“OK” he was cooling down.

“See my friend, the concept of good or bad is Western. The world of seeing duality and polar opposites everywhere is Semitic. A totally overly simplistic view of the world.”

“Is it not so?”

“It is a very simplistic black and white philosophy – I agree it is very easy to to understand at mind-level and follow too… but everything can not be defined in black and white. In fact, 99% of everything is in the grey”

“Hmm…I don’t understand. Come to the point, don’t just bah-blah… You mean to say there is no sin in your religion?”

“Yes and no… There is no such sin, as per your concept, in Hinduism. This is just another western conceptthat has crept in India through the foreign missionaries… It’s a foreign concept brought to us by foreigners, and had no place in original Hinduism”

The Hindu view of sin is not the same as other religious views…For instance, Christians (particularly Catholics) believe that sin is an offense against God. According to Catholic theology, a mortal sin (a bad act committed with full knowledge and significant reflection) breaks a person’s relationship with God and if he/she dies unrepentant in a state of mortal sin, he/she will go to hell.

In Hinduism, the term sin (pāapa in Sanskrit) is often used to describe actions that create negative karma by violating moral and ethical codes. However, it is totally different from other religions like Judaism, Christianity and Islam in the sense that sin is against the will of God – or against the God’s laws.

In other words, Christianity has no theory of karma, so they believe in God’s Judgment after death. Also every human is assumed to be a sinner right from birth, and therefore, must fear God, who in turn will love the human. Some Hindus may say, good takes you closer to God while bad takes you away from God – but there is no such mention in our ancient scriptures: even good karma cannot reach to god … one must transcend both paapa and punya to realize the supreme or cosmic….

“Hindu isn’t answerable to a personal God. He cannot repent of sin, and there is no forgiveness. He is responsible for his actions because of an inexorable law of the universe.”

“Oh, I have heard the word ‘karma’ – we also use it while writing news stories, though I don’t fully understand the meaning. So you are now agreeing there is bad karma”

“Karma – it is just karma, not good or bad. The results depends upon action and reaction of the person, situations, space and time….here again, we cannot tout it as simple black and white or in ‘yes or no’ platform…”

“But you believe karma will yield to result…”

“Oh, that doesn’t mean if you do good, good will result, and if you do something bad, bad will result. That’s also very simplistic way of seeing complex and related things. If that’s true, why do bad things happen to good people?”

“Oh Oh…you are intentionally complicating things, just to win in argument…”

“No. At present, I am not arguing with you. I am trying to express what I had understood. I am not an authentic expert on Hinduism. But, as far as I know, there’s no formal atonement for sin anywhere in Hindu scriptures”

“Really? Can you explain further?”

– “According to my knowledge, in Hinduism, sin is not an action. It is the reaction to an action. It merely means not being judgmental and condemning somebody without a full appreciation of the facts and circumstances. It means not adopting a superior, virtuous “holier-than-thou” mental attitude…”

“So there is no good and bad…how societies can or a community can survive without any moral concept of good and bad?”

– “Society and moral concepts are different subjects’ altogether. Now, we are talking about sin. We Hindus, as far as I know, consider both good and bad deeds as a laggard in attaining the ultimate aim of eternal happiness and peace. Vedic scriptures say Punya or Papa are products of mind and does not hold any substance….”

“So how can you achieve salvation?”

– “That’s what. For us, there is no sin. Hence, no salvation is needed, only enlightenment. We must merely wake up to our innate divinity. If I am part of God. I can never really be alienated from God by sin….I just can’t do anything against the cosmic will as I am aware that I am a part of everything”

Hindu scriptures say that all the universe, including every living being, is one.

All, everything, is god. Single cosmic. (Separation creates ego and fear – but that’s another subject) And we are god. (Not personal god, but impersonal reality). Anything done for purely selfish purposes or for the gratification of the ego tends to limit the mind. And such actions take you away from the knowledge that he is ultimately one with everything.

“I am sorry, but I cannot explain these Sanskrit mantras as (1) you already have conditioned concepts about GOD and (2) I am not a good orator”

“You mean to say, your sacred texts do not mention about sin?”

“There are two levels in Hinduism – one is mind-body level – that’s known as entry-level Hinduism. It has rituals, faith, superstitions, beliefs etc. To teach such Hindus we have puranas or stories which say there are good and bad. There are gods and asuras similar to your gods and demons…But here also a Hindu has freedom to believe whatever system he wants to follow”

“What’s the next level…?”

“The next level is when a Hindu transcends and becomes a truth seeker…he goes beyond puranas and starts learning Vedic scriptures…then he understands and experiences the pure consciousness…the higher self…at that stage, there is no sin, no good and bad. A seeker is aware of cosmic consciousness, so he just can’t do anything against cosmic. Hence there is no sin for a truth seeker”

“Still, for entry-level Hindus, you have sins…”

“Please don’t complicate with your concepts of sins. Paapa is not the apt word for sin. You can say, perhaps, “adharmic actions”. That’s different word, and different meaning too. Still, let us say adharmic action can roughly translated as sin”

“Aha…so you are coming back to my point. Now, you explain what adharmic actions are? Are there commandments? It is another word for sin”

“No…As I said, there are no sinners, though there are wrong actions . Through ignorance alone, commit various wrong actions. There are no sinners, though there are wrong actions…”

The Mahabharata Santi Parva, Section CLVIII says: “Covetousness or excessively and culpably desirous of the possessions of another (almost synonymous to jealousy) may be considered as the biggest paapa. It is from this source that paap and irreligiousness flow, together with great misery. This is the source of all the cunning and hypocrisy in the world. It is covetousness that makes men commit sin. Pride, malice, slander, crookedness, and incapacity to hear other people’s good, are vices that are to be seen in persons of uncleanness soul under the domination of covetousness. Know that those who are always under the influence of covetousness are wicked.”

“So your Mahabharata says there are sins – there are good and bad actions. Then why can’t you accept it? It is similar to our faith…”

“Not at all…trying to exploit others or brainwashing others also come under sin…” I said, hitting at him.

The Mahabharata, Santi Parva, Section XV: “There is no act that is wholly meritorious, nor any that is wholly wicked. Right or wrong, in all acts, something of both is seen…”

“Tell it in simple words, don’t complicate things”

“There is no prescriptive right and wrong….however, to put it in simple words – a black and white for you – harming othersmay be considered as a sin as per Hinduism.”

(Slokaardhena Pravakshyaami yaduktham grantakotishu: Paropakaara:Punyaaya Paapaaya Parapeetanam = Meaning of this subhashita in English: “What has been told in millions of scriptures, I shall tell in just half a sloka- actions that fetch good to others is Punya and actions that fetch difficulty to others is Paapa”.)

“And any scriptures offer salvation for the “your concept” (in quotes) of sin?” he hit back at me.

“No sin…so no salvation. I said, enlightenment…being aware about your actions…If you are aware, you will not and cannot do any paapa at all…”

– However, the Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 9, verse 30 and 31 says: Even if the most sinful person worships me with devotion to none else, he should be regarded as righteous, for he has rightly resolved (for he has made the holy resolution to give up the evil ways of his life). Soon he becomes righteous and attains to eternal peace; O Arjuna, know thou for certain that my devotee is never destroyed.

“Yeah – see..see..That’s what we also says – repent to God,” he acclaimed.

“But there is a serious difference again. Krishna and Arjuna are symbolic representations. The meaning of the Gita sloka is: By abandoning the evil ways in his external life and by the force of his internal right resolution, he becomes righteous and attains to eternal peace..Again, Krishna is symbolic representation of the cosmic awareness”

“Come again,”

“The body-mind brings out the idea of sin… The birth of thought itself is sin…even spirituality without awareness won’t help you…some people act spiritual, but, then, their spirituality is a mind-level thing….And mind cannot and will not escape from ego. So the first and foremost aspect is pure thoughts and deeds – it comes from the state of awareness. If thoughts and motives are good and supported by eternal truth, whatever may be the action, there would not be any sin…”

“Even violence?”

“See, if you look at things with conditioned mind, you can see lot of rights and wrongs. For instance you can see all Hindu gods carry weapons with them. And they have killed…. In fact, the Hindu gods carry weapons to protect non-violence. To protect dharma…”

“Let me tell you – you call it good or bad or sin or adharma. For me it is difficult to understand…”

“So is Hinduism – difficult to understand, even for its own followers…” I added.

-A real follower of Sanatan Dharma will not involve in adharmic karma. Why? It is not because of fear of GOD as a Hindu never be taught to fear God. It is not because of an entry ban in the heaven. But because of his love to Brahman or cosmic. A Hindu is answerable to himself, for, he knows he is part and parcel of the cosmic nature…that’s awareness…

“Ok…But do you personally believe in sins? Be honest with me…don’t give me that awareness or enlightenment or Brahman crap and all”

“My dear friend, I am not an enlightened person. I am still in the entry-level Hinduism, though I am trying to be a seeker. I still have damn problem with subtle ego (which comes in disguise), so I am not fully aware. I do believe in some good and bad. According to me, some of the worst sins in Hinduism are wishing for bad things for others, without understanding they are part of us. I also consider eating meat as sin. But there are Hindus who eat meat. They don’t think it as sin. That means, the definition for bad things or sin is relative – different for different Hindus….There is no standardization of good and bad like other religions”

“Hey, I too am vegetarian and I also believe in non-violence. Christians also profess non-violence, do you know?”

“That’s great. So, in short, sin in Hinduism = giving pain or torture or even making feel bad to someone by your mind or words or by actions. (mansa, vaachaa, karmana)…”

“So, you will get punishment and go to hell…lol” he laughed.

“No…No…No….Again, we don’t have punishment like that of yours. Though Garuda Purana talks about ‘hell’ and ‘heaven,’ the subject is completely absent in the oldest texts in Hinduism..Authentic scriptures do not have such hell and heaven. We have triloka, but it is different concept… All actions are ruled by the law of Karma…”

Suddenly he asked: “Do you like Jesus Christ ?…”

“Of course I do…I believe Christ was an enlightened man like Buddha, Madhvacharya and Sankaracharya…That doesn’t mean I take everything they says as truth. I am a Hindu by birth and by wish… So I have freedom and choice to believe what I want…”

“I am happy that you have a balanced view. I should also read these things on Hinduism. I do hope you won’t feel that we are fanatic, as I got angry in between…”

This kind of awareness talking about Hinduism & its concept is really difficult for majority of Hindus hence generally we keep quiet when faced with such people unable to explain in proper words and sometimes feel speechless with the rudeness & narrowminded mentality to respect others beliefs.

Without any intention of disrespect to any Faith , I would like to mention that A sin is a Sin beause it does a great damage to us. Every religion ( as it is called) came on earth was sent by the same Almighty god. Including the religions and revelations in India.[ You could refer to Garud puran and other Shruthi scriptures and they will go against what is said in this article. ] But none of the revelations were meant to last for ever. That is the reason there were the future was propheciesed in the scriptures telling what would happen in the future. Every scripture revealed except the last one was manupulated and changed.

Humans do a lot of misdeeds. The least that they can do for it feel sorry about their deeds , feel guilty. If they dont feel guilty for their misdeeds then that will become desensitised. They take away the peace of a persons soul. Lets see some sins which Almighty God has asked us to stay away from –

– Disrespecting people based on color , status, money, family – All human beings are equal . The superior in the eyes of god is the one who is righteous.
– Showing pride and showing off infront of others
– Every resource belongs to Almighty God. So anyone who wastes the resources will have to account for it on judgement day – like water, food, and also money – use as much as you need. every human being has a right on the resources of the earth whether or not he/she can afford.
– When a person in your locality has no food to eat and you have eaten to the full. If every person was to give 2.5% of their yearly savings including the gold and silver they and their dependents own. Then no body on earth would die of hunger
– Taking revenge
– Discussing bad qualitites of people behind their back. – A major sin.
– Encouraging and drinking alcohol – A major sin – most murders, rapes , are under the influence of alcohol.
– Fornication and adultry. – If sex outside marriage is not disrespect to women , then people who think so should not have problem letting their mother, sister, daughter do the same outside marriage. Sex is only permissible inside marriage.
– Treating our parent badly is a Sin.
– Husband treating his wife badly is a Sin

HUman being have no right to harm the society. If they do, they should know that they are commiting a sin. and they will held responsible for what they do .

Very Good discussion. Most of the sanskrit words can not be expressed in English. The moment you translate, it loses it meaning, vastness, and limiting the scope. For example, Dharma, if you translate it in English as “Rightiousness”, it loses its meaning. Dharma is very broad and deep in meaning, and varies depend on context, situation, time and space.

Outstanding.the greatness of our SANATAN DHARMA is so perfectly explained so easy way in short thats makes it really unique.Read it repeatedly and each time a sense reality and greatness of this DHARMA about its philosophy will definitely surprised you that differentiate this from other prescriptive religion with certain code of conduct what to do and what not to do.SWADHARMA means the belief of this religion for its answarable duty is fixed on its own KARMA means if do bad the result will bad and for good result will be good.No question for detachment from god as self is responsible for own cause as AHAM BRAHMAN is only enough to means it and salvation to god is only for seeking the truth and to know the Brahma.As we consider that every living being is part of Brahma unlike the other there is no means of gealousy to other believer as from the liberal platform of this dharma one can choose its own way considering the way of KARMA as it knows better about its expected result.Really thankfull to the writter of this remarkable writting and personnally it taste to me as AMRIT by way of providing the gist of sinple knowledge extracted from very tough and complicated ocean like sizes of knowledge.Saluting you and hope every body will share it as many as possible for positive value of liberal philosophy.

Being hindu myself too, your article is too complex to understand. What i have understood about MAHABHARAT war is it is victory of good over evil. From childhood i am hearing about paap and punya. Yes one thing highlighted in this context is one should always dream to get ” ” mukti” which free soul from journey of heaven, hell and birth. The ultimate attainment a learned soul can achieve.

But what astonished me is writer is claimin that there is no such notion of good or bad, no notion of sin.

Kansha was brainwashed by Narad to assume that his killer would be one among the eight son of deuki not the eighth son, so that he will kill all innocent babies. Purpose was to fill up his bowl of sin quickly so that he will meet his end quickly.

I would like to point out the counter argument of comparing it to Christianity doesn’t really do the Christian faith any historical justice at all. The whole transition from Catholicism to modern day Christianity was literally due to the concept of sin and where we stand with God. in regards to it. Catholics believe we are all separated from God due to sin and flesh but very early Christian philosophers that sparked the transition wanted the christian community to acknowledge the importance of Jesus dying on the cross and relinquishing sin so we can live free of limitations where we can progress closer to God (or becoming more aware) through good deeds. Someone of a true Godly path can literally do no wrong because he is always driven by the divine. There were hundreds of heretics that inspired modern day Christianity saying that we are not separate from God. The pharisees and sadducees of the Jews and later Catholics were founded and continue to address the idea of being God or being separated from God based on the principle that God created the universe from himself and we are from him so we are divinity itself along with everything that encompasses us in this world. The trinity has been suggested to represent this as well but the depiction remains ignorant due to its societal manipulation into government. Catholics believe in a finite world because God is not reachable while Christians (by true belief) believe in the infinite. Further on in Christianity we develop this idea further by rejecting major groups like Calvinism who believe predestination. These groups state that it is false because of the importance of looking into ourselves to seek the divine being more valid than thinking we have no control over whether we enter hell or heaven. There is more but because of the decline of the Dharma we will forever suffer due to the improper use of knowledge and insufficient teachers. despite how Westerners/ Christians/ Imperialists display their ignorance Christianity still holds enlightened people that would tell you Christianity is only one path to the divine equally as valid or invalid as any other because we are all rooted in the same divinity as sentient beings coming from the same source. As we get further away from the original intent and teachings we struggle more and more to find the purity in them and in turn have done terrible things in the name of Christ.

I agree with you and I hold the same viewpoint, I just have a question. If the concept of sin does not exist in Hinduism, then why people believe taking a dip in river Ganga will wash away all their sin’s, this concept is being carried around from few hundred years in past, what is your take on that?